A Leap of Faith Worth Taking
Keyler White
It was a gorgeous February day in Chicago. I was driving into the city to see my family. That’s when I saw him, a homeless man, walking in the middle of the road asking people stopped at the light for change. He was walking away from me but with the skyline of the city as the backdrop behind him, I realized something. I was struck with the reality that here was a man who had no idea what his future would hold, and even though he had most likely gone through tremendous struggles, the scariest part of his journey was still ahead of him. The unknown. The future. That is exactly what Odysseus went through when he finally decided to reveal himself to the world. He has been through more turmoil and suffering …show more content…
By Book Twenty-One of Homer’s epic spectacle, he had undergone immeasurable stress, and had finally chosen to reveal himself in the most grand fashion imaginable, screaming at the top of his lungs, “I am home now, for I am he.” (pg 397). His future was shrouded with mystery - until this point the Gods had foreseen everything, even his slaughtering of all the suitors. Just like Daddy Warbucks in Annie, Odysseus had his life figured out, until it was ripped from his grasp. Warbucks was the most powerful businessmen in the country, then a little girl named Annie entered his mansion and his life would never be the same. For the first time in a long time Warbucks was kept on his toes. Warbucks was a soldier, like Odysseus although they were fighting very different wars. Often times soldiers can’t survive without a war. Odysseus had been fighting for over twenty years, but what happened when the war was over? What did the cold, ruthless Warbucks do with a friendly little orphan girl. What did the ‘great tactician’ do when there was nothing to strategize? How did the most powerful man in the world react to being powerless. Most likely Odysseus struggled with post traumatic stress disorder for the rest of his life. These are issues Homer never addressed. As for Warbucks, he learned to open his heart to emotion, to become a full functioning member of society again. Additionally, Homer never fully realized the humanity of Penelope as a human …show more content…
They have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education and now it’s time to put it use. But in the most competitive job market in the history of the world, that future is becoming increasingly bleak. These young adults more than any other group have the most uncertain future. Today, the world’s biggest companies can afford to pick the best and brightest, even small companies can hand pick their employees. New graduates have their whole futures in front of them and often times feel hopeless that they will never get a job anywhere. My cousin was one of the lucky ones, as a junior in college he has a summer job on Wall Street that is intended to lead into full-time employment, but has a strong GPA, a perfect SAT, and he wrote a book on investing that is actually going to be published. This is not the story for the majority of college graduates. Graduation from college is the scariest times of their lives, because for the first time ever, they don’t know what’s going to happen. The open sea of life awaits for them, but they are stuck at port. The journey for the rest of their lives is just beginning, and they have no idea what that journey holds.
Human beings’ pathological need to know what lies ahead of them causes the instinctive fear of the unknown future. No one can deny that - not even one of the greatest heroes
Keyler White
It was a gorgeous February day in Chicago. I was driving into the city to see my family. That’s when I saw him, a homeless man, walking in the middle of the road asking people stopped at the light for change. He was walking away from me but with the skyline of the city as the backdrop behind him, I realized something. I was struck with the reality that here was a man who had no idea what his future would hold, and even though he had most likely gone through tremendous struggles, the scariest part of his journey was still ahead of him. The unknown. The future. That is exactly what Odysseus went through when he finally decided to reveal himself to the world. He has been through more turmoil and suffering …show more content…
By Book Twenty-One of Homer’s epic spectacle, he had undergone immeasurable stress, and had finally chosen to reveal himself in the most grand fashion imaginable, screaming at the top of his lungs, “I am home now, for I am he.” (pg 397). His future was shrouded with mystery - until this point the Gods had foreseen everything, even his slaughtering of all the suitors. Just like Daddy Warbucks in Annie, Odysseus had his life figured out, until it was ripped from his grasp. Warbucks was the most powerful businessmen in the country, then a little girl named Annie entered his mansion and his life would never be the same. For the first time in a long time Warbucks was kept on his toes. Warbucks was a soldier, like Odysseus although they were fighting very different wars. Often times soldiers can’t survive without a war. Odysseus had been fighting for over twenty years, but what happened when the war was over? What did the cold, ruthless Warbucks do with a friendly little orphan girl. What did the ‘great tactician’ do when there was nothing to strategize? How did the most powerful man in the world react to being powerless. Most likely Odysseus struggled with post traumatic stress disorder for the rest of his life. These are issues Homer never addressed. As for Warbucks, he learned to open his heart to emotion, to become a full functioning member of society again. Additionally, Homer never fully realized the humanity of Penelope as a human …show more content…
They have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education and now it’s time to put it use. But in the most competitive job market in the history of the world, that future is becoming increasingly bleak. These young adults more than any other group have the most uncertain future. Today, the world’s biggest companies can afford to pick the best and brightest, even small companies can hand pick their employees. New graduates have their whole futures in front of them and often times feel hopeless that they will never get a job anywhere. My cousin was one of the lucky ones, as a junior in college he has a summer job on Wall Street that is intended to lead into full-time employment, but has a strong GPA, a perfect SAT, and he wrote a book on investing that is actually going to be published. This is not the story for the majority of college graduates. Graduation from college is the scariest times of their lives, because for the first time ever, they don’t know what’s going to happen. The open sea of life awaits for them, but they are stuck at port. The journey for the rest of their lives is just beginning, and they have no idea what that journey holds.
Human beings’ pathological need to know what lies ahead of them causes the instinctive fear of the unknown future. No one can deny that - not even one of the greatest heroes